Coin-control mechanism



Feb. 16,1926. 4 1,573,181

G. H. MATCHETT COIN CONTROL MECHANISM Filed Sept. 26, 1919 'Y PatentedFeb. 16, 1926.

PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE H. MATCHETT, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

COIN-CONTROL MECHANISM.

Application filed. September 26, 1919. Serial No. 326,640.

To all whom tv may concern.'

:Be it known that I, Gnon'cn H. Mn'roiiirr'r,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county ofCuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented a certa-in new and usefulImprovement in CoiiiCo1iti'ol Mechanism, of which the following is afull, clear, and exact description.

.The present invention relates to a coin controlled mechanism, which isparticularly adapted for use inconnection with machines for vendingvarious articles or commodities. The invention is particularly directedto a construction which may be so adjusted as to be operable upon theinsertion of one or more coins.

A further object is to provide a coin guide or trackway, having aportion thereof which forms a coin receiving well, together with meanswhereby the depth ofthe well may bej adjusted, or in other words, itscoin receiving and retaining depth and capacity may be lvaried so as tomake the mechanism operable upon the .insertion of one, two or morecoins. l

A further object of the invention is to v provide a construction of thecharacter described, vwhich is robust in nature and not Y easily brokenor put out of order by the repeated using and rough usage to whichmechanism of this kind is subjected when in use.

: Other objects of the invention will appear i more at vlarge as thedescription proceeds and generally speaking, the invention may be saidto comprise the elements and the combinations thereof set forth in theaccompanying claims.

Reference shouldi be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part ofthis specilication in which Fig. l is a front elevation ofthe mechanismforming the subject matter of this invention; Fig. 2 is an endelevation; Fig. 3 is a top plan view;

45. Fig. al is a plan view partly in section showing a detail ofconstruction; and Fig. 5 is a top plan view of a part of the mechanism.

The mechanism which is shown and described herein is of that class whichis intended to be used in connection with the vending of variouscommodities and articles wherein the operating mechanism of the vendingmachine itself is retained in inoperative position, until by theinsertion. of

a proper coin or coins, the vending mechanism is in position for opeation j In many instances, a vending machine may be operated by theinsertion of a single coin, but it frequently is necessary in vend ingan article or commodity, to require the insertion of more than one coin,:is for instance where the article being vended is sold at two, three orfour cents, or at twenty oi' thirty cents. Under these circumstances themechanism which operates the vending inachine should not be in operativeposition until the proper number of coins of the necessary denoniinationhave been deposited in the slot.

Furthermore, a mechanism of this character, in order to be of itsgreatest use should be so constructed that the number of coins requiredto operate the mechanism iii-ay be changed, thereby permitting an adjustability in this respect, which permits the same mechanism to be usedin connection with a varying number of coins.

Referring to the drawings, 1 indicates a suitable support which mayconveniently be a portion of the casing or other construction of thevending device in connection with which the coin controlled mechanism isused. This support or wall has a shaft Q journaled therein, which shaftis connected with the operating mechanism of the vending machine proper.Upon this shaft there is a tooth wheel indicated at 3. rl`he teeth ofthis wheel 3 being engaged by a dog il, which prevents the rotation ofthc wheel 3 in one direction. The shaft 2 may conveniently be operatedby the handle 5 which extends upon the outside of the casing of thevending machine. In the present instance a handle is merely suggestiveof an operating means for the shaft 2, and as will be apparent, othermeans of operating the Shaft 2 may be employed than that hereindescribed and shown.

Upon the saine shaft 2 is an annular meniber 6, this annular membeilying adjacent the wheel 3. This annular member is provided with a notch7 on the peripheral surface thereof, which notch is adapted to beengaged by the nose of a latch member 8. The direction in which thenotch T is formed in the member 6 is such as to oppose rotary motion iiithe direction opposite to that opposed by the dog 4 so that when the dogi CTI f CII and the latch 8 are in theirI engaging positions, the shaft2 is locked against rotation.

The wall member 1 carries brackets 9 and 10, and in these brackets thereare slidably supported the rods 10 and 11. rlhe rod 10 carries ythelatch 8 and movement of therrod 10 moves the latch 8. This rod isnormally under the retractive force of a springt 12, the pull of thespring being in a direction to hold the latch 8 in its engaging positionwith respect to the notch Y Mounted upon and secured to the shaft 10 isa housing 13, through which extends a rod. o rshaft 14, as will be laterexplained. This housing Carried. by the rod 10 extends rearwardly fromthe shaft and the rear portion thereof forms an abutment, such asindicated at 15, adapted to be engaged by a coin' 'as will be laterdescribed.

Upon the rod 11 Atherel is a spring 16, which at one end bears againstthe bracket portion 9 and at its opposite end engages with a 'pin 17,whioh'is carried by the rod 11. This' spring normally urges therod 11awaytrom the bracket 9. The rod 11 adjacent the opposite end is providedwith a member 18, which is secured to the rod and normally undertheaction ot the spring 16, the member 1 8 abuts against the bracketmember' 10u. rThe coin chute or guide way, is indicated at 20; r1`hechute may be formed in any desired manner, but in any event there is aportion such as indicated at'20, which extends at substantially rightangles with respect to the rods 10 and 11. rlhe chute at the portionadjacent to the stop 1S is open at the front and rear thereof, so thatthe stop 18' may move transverselyr of the chute and push the coin whichmay be in Viront oi the stop 18, against the abutment 15 formed on themember 13.V

The portion 20a of the coin chute or track Way, may be extended to any.desired extent so that it will be available to hold substan; tially anydesired number oi" coins.

VThe portion ot' the track way 20ar is provided with a series ofaligned' notches', such as indicated at 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 2G and 27.These notches extend intov the track way sol that in the event any oneof these notches is occupied by a projection or obstruction ot anycharacter, thel coinwhich ei'igages the stop orobstruction will. be heldand coins subsequently inserted will build up within the portion 2()a ofthe coin chute, and ivi" there are a sutlicient number of coins to buildup, so that there is a coin lying between the stop 18 and the abutment15', then the mechanism may be operated, but not otherwise'. y

For instance, if there is a projection inserted in the opening 21, it.would require but one coin to place the mechanism in operativecondition. 1f a stop be placed in the opening 22, as shown in thedrawing in Fig. 1, two coins would be necessary, if a stop be vvisionwhich will adapt the placed in the opening 23, three coins would benecessary, and so on. Evidently the length of the Vmember 20a may beextended as desired, and there may be as many notches as desired.

It will be apparent that if it be desired to manufacture a mechanismwhich shall be operated upon iixed number of coins and without anyfeatures ot' adjustability, the length ot the chute 2Ov need not begreater than the required length to accommodate the inserted coins, andin this case the notch and projection can be placed at the lower part otthe chute.

However, in thc presentinstance, -itis desired to malte the chute ot'proper length to orovide a niuralit i oi" openings in thevtube l 1 i L btoethervith a plurality ot stops for co operation with the openings inthe chute, so that at will the relationship between the stops and thecoin chute may vbe altered thereby in the same machine, makingproma'chin-eto be usedwith one or more coins.

l'zn the present instance, upon the shaft 11V there are provided anumber ot projections, such as indicated at 145k 1n the presentinstance, there are 8 such projections, and they arespa ed apart anequal angular amount; however, .the stops are distribute-:l along thesha'tt'111'sothat in eiiicct the members 11 are in spiralarrangement.rod 14 to the desireddegree, lany desired stop' 1-151 may be broughtinto registry with its opening in the coin chute, at which time allother stop incmbersare all ontotl registry. rihe rod 141 at its uppercnd is provided with a pin or index member, such asl indicatedat 28,which in the present instancel is made so that it may engage in notchessuch as indicated at 13 in Fig. 1 inthe upper surface ot the member 13.The member 13 may be provided with a dial plate, such as indicated at29,' and is shown in Fig. 5, so vthat when the pin'28l is positionedproperlyl with respect to the dial plate, the proper stop on the shaft14- is inserted in the slotz oit' the coin chute.

Extending inwardly from the member ti is a pin 30, which pin liesadjacent the pin 1?, carried by the rod 10; therefore when the member Gis tree toturn, the pi1r30 will engage with the pin 17 :and so move therod 10 Vina*forward direction. The rod 10 is under the circumstances,coupled to the rod 11, due to the tact oi the coin lying between thestop land the abutment 15,'so thatvboth rods 10 and 11 move forward atthesame time. As the rod 10 moves torward, it carries with it the lat-chmember 8, so that the member C is tree to rotate. 1n a' very shortinterval of time, after the pins'V l1'? and 30 have engaged, they arereleased from engagement, dueto the rotative movement of the member 6,whereupon therod 11 is By rotating the llO CTI

released and under the action of the spring 16 is returned to initialposition. The latch member 8 engages with the periphery of the member 6,but in the period of time just elapsed, the latch has released themember 6, and engages with the annular periph` the shaft 14 which was inproper relation to extend into the coin chute is carried forward, andthe coins which had been retained by the stop are released and they dropthrough the coin chute into some suitable receptacle not shown.VTherefore it will be seen that at each operation of the machine thecoin chute clears itselll and even it there be an excess of coins overthat necessary to operate the machine, all these coins vpass through thecoin chute.

Having described my invention, I claim: A 1. In a device of thecharacter described, the combination with an actuating member, a lockingmember therefor, a movable meml ber adapted to be operatively connectedwith said locking member by the interposition of a coin, a cointraclrway, a portion of said trackway being provided with a plurality ofopenings, a member provided with a plurality of stops, said membermounted so that any one of said stops may be presented to acorresponding` opening in the coin trachway, said member carrying thestops being movably `mounted and movable when the aforesaid movablemember is moved.

2. In a device of the character described, an actuating;` member, amovable member associated with said actuating member, a stop carried bysaid movable member, a second mo 'able member, a latchcarried by saidsecond movable member adapted in one position to restrain movement ofthe actuating member, an abutment carried by the said second movablemember, a coin traclrway positioned to conduct a coin between the saidstop and the said abutment, said tracliway having` a portion whichdepends below the said stop and abut-ment, the said depending portion ofthe trackwayhaving a movable stop member associated therev-Jith, therebylimiting the passage of a coin through said traclway, the said stopmember being movable with the aforesaid movable member.

3. In a device of the character described, an actuating member, amovable member associated with said actuating' member, a stop carried bysaid movable member, a second movable member, a latch carried by saidsecond movable member, an abut-ment carried by said second movablemember, a coin tracliway positioned to conduct a coin between the saidstop and the said abutment, said traclrway having a portion whichdepends below said stop, a plurality of stops associated with saidtraclway, said stops being located throughout1 the length of saiddepending; portion of the trz'xclmvay whereby a suitable stop may bepositioned in the trackway to vary the coin receiving depth thereof,said stops beingren'lovable as a unit with the aforesaid movable member.

it. In a device of the character described, an actuating member, amovable member associated with said actuating member, a stop carried bysaid movable member, second niovable member, a. latch carried by saidsecond movable member, an abutment carried by the said second movablemenlber, a coin trackway positioned to conduct a coin between the saidstop and the said abutment, said traclrway having a portion whichdepends below the position of the stop meinber and the abutment, aplurality of openings arranged in said trackway and extending throughoutthe length of the depending portion thereof, a shaft mounted adjacentsaid trachway, stop niembers carried by the shaft and positioned toselectively engage with the openings in the traeltway, thereby to varythe coin receiving; depth o't said trackway, and means for positioningthe said shaft, said shaft and stops being movable as a. unit with the'aforesaid movable member.

5. In a device of the character described, an actuating member, saidactuating meniber having a. portion which has an annular surface with anotch formed therein, a latch adapted to cooperate with the said portionhaving' the annular surface and normally engaging said notch, a slidablemember upon which said latch is mounted, an abutment associated withsaid movable member, a second movable member, a stop associated withsaid second movable member, the stop beine positioned adjacent the saidabutment and adapted to be operatively connected therewith by aninterposed coin, a pin carried by the second movable member, a secondpin carried by the actuating member, said pins being adapted to engageduringa portion oit the movement of the actuating member.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto atlix my signature.

GEORGE I-I. MATCHETT.

